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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27784348">Video Games</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/prinsessa_mouse/pseuds/prinsessa_mouse'>prinsessa_mouse</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Living in Uggr [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Metalocalypse (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Concerned William Murderface, Developing Friendships, Drinking &amp; Talking, Drinking and gaming, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Marriage, Pre-Dethklok, Substance Abuse, Verbal Abuse, controlling relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 01:01:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27784348</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/prinsessa_mouse/pseuds/prinsessa_mouse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Skwisgaar takes a risk and invites William over to his house.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Magnus Hammersmith/Skwisgaar Skwigelf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Living in Uggr [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021879</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Video Games</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“The best game for two players ish Joust for Atari,” William rambled excitedly. He unpacked another box of new rental movies that needed to be put on the shelves.</p><p>Skwisgaar stared at the tv playing Prom Night. He asked to switch the movie to The Goonies, William said with Halloween being in a few weeks the store wanted to show horror movies. He offered to put the returns away to help the shorter man with his end of shift tasks. Skwisgaar volunteered mostly to practice reading English. Reading movie and game titles beat the books Magnus picked up for him. The books weren’t terrible. He enjoyed reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books. He tried not to act offended when Magnus made him read Dr. Seuss aloud. At least chapter books were dignified, picture books made him feel like a failure. Sometimes when the blonde didn’t get the housework done his punishment was reading to Magnus who took pride in correcting him. Other nights, his husband got high and berated his English. At least the shorter man showed him patience and encouraged him.</p><p>William became a safe person to hang out with when his husband went into a heroin rage.</p><p>Whenever Magnus got high, Skwisgaar waited until he passed out before he snuck out to the movie rental store six blocks away from the house. He sometimes went to the convenience store near the house if William wasn’t working. He called Pickles in Bloomingdale, he talked until he calmed down and promised he didn’t need Nathan to drive out to get him. Skwisgaar nearly fled the house the second he heard the thud in their bedroom. Magnus missed the bed and landed on the floor. Out of good faith, he checked to make sure that his husband didn’t slam his head on the bedside table then covered him up in a blanket. He cleaned up the mess around the house and ran for the rental store.</p><p>His friend’s incessant chatter about Atari games took Skwisgaar’s mind off the pain radiating through his body. Magnus slammed him into a wall the day before when they got into an argument about him going on tour with Agnostic Priest. As revenge, Skwisgaar kicked his unconscious husband a bit hard in the side with his Chelsea boot to make sure he wasn’t dead on the bedroom floor.</p><p>The newest arcade game nestled in the back of the shop had William excited. Skwisgaar tried to share the emotion with little success. He didn’t care which games were there if he could plug the machine with quarters, he collected from his husband’s pockets on laundry day.</p><p>“Whatsh wrong?” William finally asked. They met through the metal scene. Skwisgaar toured a lot before he settled down in Tampa. William knew about Magnus; the older man followed the young blonde around the movie store protectively. His hand resting on the small of Skwisgaar’s back while he walked him through the aisles to choose movies. William disliked it; he wouldn’t consider himself the brightest star in the sky when it came to relationships, but he could tell something wasn’t right with theirs. He saw the bruises on Skwisgaar’s arms and neck. When he asked, his friend told him it was nothing while yanking down the sleeve of his clothing.</p><p>The blonde ignored his question.</p><p>“Are you goings to see my band befores I leave for tours?” Skwisgaar deflected. Magnus told him not to talk about their relationship problems. His mom asked him many times in Swedish to give her a sign. For all the times that she neglected him, she started to notice something wrong when he moved in with the older man. Steering people away from the topic saved him a stress induced night of fighting.</p><p>“Yah.”</p><p>Skwisgaar nervously twisted his wedding band around his finger to avoid eye contact. When he ran to hang out with William, he always wanted to talk about what happened. When he tried his stomach got knotted up with acid nausea. He appreciated that William and Pickles were patient with him, they knew something happened and offered him support.</p><p>“My bossh is looking to hire a stock guy,” William said. He pulled the remaining movie rentals from the box and placed them on the counter. “I can put in a good word for you.”</p><p>“Can’t reads English wells enough.”</p><p>William rolled his eyes. “What does thish say?” he asked holding up a movie case.</p><p>“The Neverendings Story,” Skwisgaar mumbled.</p><p>“Where would you put this movie?”</p><p>Skwisgaar sighed, “Kids movies.”</p><p>“You could work here witsh me. You like helping me out here sho why wouldn’t you want to be paid for it?”</p><p>“Magnus wouldn’t likes it. I gots chores to does and guitar to practice,” Skwisgaar replied. He toured too much to hold a part time job. He didn’t have the social skills to work with the public. He stayed in his lane so to speak – sticking to his bands and paid studio sessions.</p><p>William dropped the subject. Magnus didn’t seem to like a lot of things Skwisgaar did. He had enough sense in his head to not get to involved in case it caused more harm than good.</p><p>“Wants to rent a games system and comes over to drink?”</p><p>The shorter man finished checking off the movies stacked in front of him before answering. “We need a pizza too,” William suggested. He handed the stack of children’s movies to Skwisgaar and shooed him away.</p><p>Skwisgaar welcomed the distraction. He hurried back to the front desk cluttered in video cassettes to get the next stack left out for him. It didn’t take them long to clear the desk before William’s co-worker showed up for the shift change. When his shift was done the two of them rented an Atari system with the adventure cartridge packs. They loaded into William’s dumpy little car to find a decent priced pizza and stopped off at the convenience store for junk food too.</p><p>William noticed how uneasy Skwisgaar became the closer they got to his house. He tried to offer some casual conversation that went unanswered aside from directions into a reasonably nice neighborhood. He wondered how a has been like Magnus afforded a house in a newer development. Pulling into the driveway of the blue bungalow, it made sense. All the houses were a bit older and needed new paint. It amazed him that there were flowers in all the built-in planter boxes on the porch, all the rose bushes were trimmed and there was a gorgeous display of ceramic pots along the walkway. It reminded him of his grandma’s house.</p><p>Inside the house was a different story. The house went from classy to trashy with one look around the main level. There were cracks and fist holes in the whitewashed walls, picture frames hung on an angle, some missing glass while others were precariously resting on the edge of the dented-up coffee tables. Chips of wood was missing from some of the legs of the furniture, shards of glass twinkled like tiny stars when the lights were turned on. The hardwood floors were scrapped up from the feet on the furniture. It told him more about Skwisgaar than he ever knew. The blonde stayed away from a particular wall, the one with the holes as if it were evil. His stance shrunken, nervous and fidgety, he couldn’t seem to focus on anything. His normal cocky nature void and timid.</p><p>“I’ll gets the beer. Wants to set ups the game?” Skwisgaar muttered.</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>The blonde took the opportunity to leave the room. William staring at him with that concerned look put him on edge. He regretted asking him over, he didn’t think about the holes in the walls and how that alone could tip off his friend that he was in an abusive relationship. The other risk being Magnus waking up. He snuck down the hallway to check in on his husband who laid in a heap where he left him a few hours ago. Sometimes he slept off his highs for the whole evening, other times he woke up in a miserable needy mood. If Skwisgaar got drunk enough maybe he could pass out. Magnus wouldn’t touch him if he fell asleep before he got up. Returning to the kitchen, he counted the beers in the fridge and checked in the cabinet to see what other booze they had on hand. He abandoned his plan to suggest doing shots, he grabbed a few bowls for the snacks, plates, and the beers.</p><p>He found William sitting back on the couch with Demons to Diamonds loaded. He launched into his husbandly duties of dishing out the food and pouring snacks into the bowls. He didn’t sit down on the couch until the coffee table was organized like a Thanksgiving meal.</p><p>“Thanksh man,” the curly haired man said. He didn’t like seeing Skwisgaar act so weird. He got used to his foreign friend being carefree and chatty when they were together. Tonight, his friend didn’t talk a lot. He figured he got asked over for a reason. He saw the way Skwisgaar winced when he sat down on the couch. He sucked in a pained breath as he got himself settled.</p><p>“Varsågod.”</p><p>They ate before gaming. William devoured the pizza while Skwisgaar picked at his food. The blonde took apart his slices of deluxe pizza in a meticulous order. By the time he claimed four slices of the extra-large pizza, his friend consumed six slices.</p><p>“Where ish your boyfriend?” William finally asked.</p><p>Skwisgaar stiffened up over the question. “My husband ams passed out in the bedroom,” he whispered.</p><p>“Did shomething happen?”</p><p>“He gots high on heroins.”</p><p>William left it alone. He meant did something happen to his friend not the husband. When the plates were cleared, they started to game. Skwisgaar sipped at his beer off and on, he seemed twitchy when the volume of the game beeped to loud. They exchanged playful jabs at one another. William leaned into Skwisgaar to try messing him up as they played. When he gamed with others, he threw his elbow into their sides and played dirty. He couldn’t do that with the Swede, he obviously suffered enough at the hands of someone else, an elbow to his side could hurt him.</p><p>Skwisgaar kicked his ass at Demons to Diamonds. William grew up with video games to keep him entertained. The fact that the blonde only got introduced to gaming once he came to America made him a fun opponent. They spent a lot of time using the two player arcade games in the rental store. Skwisgaar’s focus on tasks made him masterful at games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders. The husband usually rushed him through the store and didn’t allow him to play any arcade games. Renting the Atari must have been a treat for him.</p><p>The empties were exchanged for fresh beers. William got ahead the next round, he started to laugh when his friend cursed a blue streak. The more booze in their systems the louder they got. They forgot that Magnus was home, they taunted each other loudly. Laughter filled the room along with the obnoxious sounds of the Demons to Diamonds. William switched the game to Indy 500 when Skwisgaar went to get them more beer.</p><p>Their drunken giggles got worse. William slammed into Skwisgaar’s side accidently causing the blonde to drop the controller in his hand. By reflex he held his ribs and let out a pained whimper.</p><p>“I’m sorry man,” William blurted.</p><p>Skwisgaar shrunk away when his friend reached out to give his arm a reassuring pat. His ribs were healing from a fight a week ago. Magnus slammed him down onto the hardwood floor causing his whole side to turn into a bruised galaxy of black, blue, and purple. His husband sat with him all weekend with ice packs to ease the pain. Shrinking away from William hurt just as bad as being jostled by accident.</p><p>“Skwisgaar, we’re friends. If Shomething is going on you can tell me,” William pushed. His suspected his friend got scared about coming home tonight. They hung out at his dumpy apartment or went out to venues to watch the local metal bands. He never got invited over, it didn’t bother him in the least until now. The way Skwisgaar leaned away from him on the couch bothered him. “Common. Talk to me.”</p><p>“Sötnos, kitchen now,” came a gruff voice behind them.</p><p>The blonde handed the controller over to William and obediently got to his feet.</p><p>“Stay,” William said nervously.</p><p>The request fell on deaf ears. When Magnus called, he went willingly even if it meant he might get hit or yelled at. He counted his steps – eight steps from the living room into the kitchen and five steps to the table where Magnus stood with his arms crossed over his chest. Skwisgaar approached with caution, he stopped in front of his husband and met his leering brown eyes.</p><p>“Ams sorries.”</p><p>Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose; he closed his eyes momentarily while he gathered some patience to deal with his spouse. “What have I told you about bringing people over to our house?” he asked.</p><p>Skwisgaar shrugged.</p><p>“What did I tell you? Did I tell you to invite the neighborhood over or did I tell you not to involve people in our business?” Magnus snapped. He almost grabbed a hold of the younger man to give him a shake.</p><p>“I don’ts know.”</p><p>Magnus ground his teeth angrily, “You do fucking know. What did I tell you?”</p><p>“Magi, I ams sorry,” Skwisgaar pleaded. Tears prickled at his eyes, he blinked rapidly which caused them to trail down his cheeks. The livid expression on his husband’s face meant the fight was about to turn ugly. He couldn’t stop him when he got into a rage. He took a trusting step forward into Magnus’ space hoping physical contact might spare him another bruise.</p><p>Stepping into Magnus’ space turned out to be a mistake. The older man twisted a handful of Skwisgaar’s long blonde hair in his hand and jerked his head roughly to the side. “Are you really this fucking stupid? Is my English not clear enough for you because I thought we had an understanding? No one comes to our house. You don’t go crying to Pickles, you don’t run off to hide out with your friend, and you don’t tell your bandmates about me on tour. Explain to me why you don’t understand?” he demanded.</p><p>“I mades a mistake. I understands,” Skwisgaar sobbed. “I loves you. Am sorries I didn’t thinks. I just wanted to plays some video games.”</p><p>One of the statements caused the older man to loosen his grip on his husband’s hair. He instead ran his fingers through the knotted locks to smooth out the mess. His anger dissolved into a calm loving manner. “You’re okay. Stop crying before you work yourself up,” Magnus said. His hand left Skwisgaar’s hair to wick away the tears rolling down his pale cheeks. He hated himself for causing the person he loved so much pain and fear. He reminded himself that their age gap made a difference and his patience got misplaced a lot. His dope hazed mind didn’t help to much either.</p><p>Skwisgaar responded with a gasping breath. When he got upset, he started to hyperventilate which resulted in hiccups. Taking such deep breaths with his bruised ribs caused him pain. He couldn’t get his breathing under control as he kept crying and gasping.</p><p>“Skwis, you’re okay. Look at me,” Magnus said gently cupping the blonde’s face in both his hands. He commanded his attention, eyes meeting as he took a deep breath in. “Copy me. Let’s take a big breath in ready?”</p><p>Together they breathed. The cycle continued until Skwisgaar’s breathing evened out enough for him to breathe normally. The blonde’s shaky hands desperately grabbed at Magnus for comfort, he wanted a hug. Maybe he’d apologize for kicking him when he passed out too. He felt guilty for doing that.</p><p>The older man hugged the skinny blonde close to him and kissed his tear-soaked cheek. “I’m sorry for being mean to you. I know you’re not stupid and that you understand the rules. You made a mistake because you are still a child. Your punishment for breaking the rules is to clean up the living room before you come to bed okay?” he uttered.</p><p>“Ja, okays.”</p><p>“Good and sötnos?”</p><p>The younger man hummed in response.</p><p>“Don’t ever bring someone back here again,” Magnus warned. He broke the hug they were encapsulated in; he didn’t have the desire to hold his husband any further, he kissed Skwisgaar on the cheek and stormed off to the bedroom.</p><p>Skwisgaar stood in the middle of the kitchen trying to process what happened. Was his husband mad at him or did he forgive him? It came off as a borderline threat. He got saddled with the responsibility and outcome of the next day. Magnus would check to see that the living room was spotless. He assumed his punishment would be reading aloud or cleaning the whole house if he didn’t meet expectations.</p><p>He regretted asking William over.</p><p>He made stupid decisions sometimes but being called a child didn’t seem fair. The best thing he could do to spare himself the grief would be sending his friend home. His calloused hands wiped away the remaining tears. He took a painfully deep breath and walked back into the living room.</p><p>“Are you okay?” William asked when the blonde took a seat on the couch next to him. His thin frame shook as if he were cold. His eyes were bloodshot and his blonde hair a mess. He heard the hushed fight in the kitchen, he knew that Skwisgaar got into trouble and if he had been smart enough, he would have left. He decided to stay because he couldn’t go home knowing his friend might get hurt.</p><p>“It ams fine,” Skwisgaar said bluntly.</p><p>William handed the controller back to his friend to resume the game. He understood that pushing for answers endangered his friend and who knew if Magnus was listening to them. After a few laps with Skwisgaar kicking his ass, he set his controller aside to grab the bowl of chips. The blonde continued to skillfully drive the car around the track, a few tears rolled down his cheeks as he stared at the TV.</p><p>“Cans you talk to yours boss abouts that job?”</p><p>“Yah man. I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” William replied.</p><p>Skwisgaar’s car made another successful lap before the timer ran out. He quickly wiped away his tears and played his game. “Tack,” he whispered.</p><p>“Anytime, man. When can you start?”</p><p>“As soons as possible.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hinted to William being Skwisgaar's only friend that wasn't linked through Magnus.<br/>This idea kept kicking around my head begging to be written out.<br/>I know its sad and a frustrating story. A lot of people are aware of what's happening and continue to be bystanders. I've got one with Toki in the works too. I hope you all enjoyed the next installment. I find these are almost like a character study of how people see the marriage. Its an odd collection.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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